A truly Majestic Taoist Temple in Penang

My second trip up the Penang Jade Emperor Temple or Thnee Kong Thua, has been
the most memorable visit I done so far.

Probably because there was no crowd, it was very quiet and very peaceful. The kind
of serenity and tranquility I always find it exist in Penang.

Penang Jade Emperor Temple is what the Hokkiens would say "Cheh Sauh Kuah Hai"(sitting
on the mountain, watching the sea).

The incense and joss sticks in this temple smells different. Maybe, I was paying
attention to the fragrances permeating throughout the Penang Jade Emperor Temple.
You can actually feel you are on a different level on the Penang Jade Emperor Temple.

A mangos teen tree and a few rambutan trees are evident. We used to climb these
trees. It stood in front of the steps leading up the temple.

You can walk the old steps if you park your car here to the temple. There is ample
parking space now for the devotees, especially the older folks.

Presently, I saw four areas for parking your vehicles. Driving uphill further up
the road, you can park behind the temple. No climbing or walking on stone slabs is
needed, step out of your vehicle and into the temple ground.

The second place is shown in this photo. Then the third and fourth is a newly
built parking area costing RM600,000. So when you park here, a charge of RM2 is
taken from you but it goes to the temple funds.

When I walked up the steps, it suddenly dawned to me how come there seems to
have two kinds of architectures, Hokkien and Cantonese.

As I stopped to rest, one gets to admire the view of Air Itam, Penang. The newly
built gazebo has a Hokkien shape roofing rounded "tomb like" on the top of roof.
The ends of four corners does not have a sharp ending, unlike the main entrance gate.

The Penang Jade Emperor Temple or Thnee Kong Thua Temple renovation led by Chinese
architecture specialist Wang Zhong Yi, underwent extensive renovation and restoration
which began in January 2002.

It is now placed majestically on the main entrance of the Penang Jade Emperor Temple,
across a eight acres land, surrounded and protected by the four sacred creatures of
Taoism green dragon, white tiger, black turtle and red peacock.

As the craftsmanship is not available locally, artisans from China had to be
employed. They included 33 craftsmen from Fuzhou.

The people who are involved in the restoration are also the ones who worked on
the award-winning Thian Hock Keng Temple in Singapore. The restoration of the Thian
Hock Keng Temple received an award from Unesco for cultural heritage conservation.

The feng shui master has advised that the winds of change will happen in 2004.
So when the old main gate caved in and open a bigger path in a different part of the
temple in 2004, the trustees decided to have the main gate in that position.

But they didn't find this predictions then. After work started in 2002, took
two years before the ravine caved in year 2004.

It was already being written that only after 40 years, these can happen. That is
why I said in my earlier visit, this temple is alive!

The Eight Trigrams is used to predict cosmic phenomena happened in this temple. The
Chinese regard the Yin and Yang as the basic law of the universe and used the concepts
to explain social phenomenon's.

Also in my opinion, the writing on the stone slab was not found then. So how could
they built an entrance without the auspicious writing of "Jade Emperor sitting on the
Phoenix Mountain".Penang Jade Emperor Temple

And indeed nothing in the cosmos remains constant. Everything is in the process
of change. And these changes are ordered and sequential. It is only befitting to
install the stone slab with the "writings" up on the main entrance.

Some things are not easy to explain. But having listen to all the wonderful
experiences shared by the trustees and craftsmen, one can only be grateful to the
"wonders" of god's arrangements.

And the way they glorified all the timings and arrangements, I can only listen
in awed and indeed I am awe inspired by God's wonders and arrangements.

Penang Jade Emperor Temple or Thnee Kong Thua has a beautiful history. In the old
days, the temple was taken care by a Buddhist monk named Abbot Jing Ming, a Mahayanist
monk. He was the abbot of Thnee Kong Thua from 1905 to 1915.

You can see Buddha statue at the lower hall as you enter the main entrance. This
Buddhist monks though, he practiced Buddhism, guided the locals to offer prayer to
the Jade Emperor. Strange but true!

Now you can walk up to the upper hall by the left or right side from the lower hall.
As you walk up, on the left and right side of the temple, it houses the 28 Chinese
constellation star gods.

If you want to know who they are, read the writings written at the bottom of each
statue.

Now after looking through both sides of the upper halls that houses the 28
constellations star gods, you reach the main hall that Jade Emperor (Thnee Kong) sits.

So to reach this level to look, visit or pray, one has to understand that you
have passed through so many levels of Gods and sub gods before coming up to the
Heavenly Father Imperial Throne.

The Jade Emperor's birthday is typically celebrated on the ninth day of the
first lunar month, which corresponds roughly to the first day of spring.

As you can now feel you are in the imperial court of the Heavenly Father or Penang
Jade Emperor Temple. Shading his throne are the Ying Yang and the Five Elements, Eight
Trigrams Dome ceiling depicting the universe, the only kind in Asia.

I stood in awed with the skills of the craftsmen. The colors of red and gold are
painstakingly done layer by layer.

So for devotees seeking protection for their life, they would pray to the God of
Time (Tai Say Yeh) You will also observe, his foot is most rubbed. No longer has the
gold shining look. The 5th statue in this group.

On the left hall, it houses 15 gods and on the right hall, it houses 13 gods.
The superstitious Chinese are particular in placing 14 in each.

It is worth a visit even if you have to climb the steps to the temple as there
exist only two Taoist temples in Penang that has magnificent bronze like statues.

I felt very privileged to be invited up the upper roof where the founders statues
can be found.

As we chatted, names of the founders were mentioned. Their names are familiar and
some descendants are alive and still living in Penang. They are like me, in their
fourth or fifth generation.

The big bell for ringing through the whole valley is in this part of the temple.
Hearing the bells ringing is as if the founding members seems happy to know some of
their descendants are around and paying homage to them.